Just enough water left in the river for Roxie to get her feet wet.
"...This is the third time in four years the river has run dry. It was unheard of for decades before 2022. But this year seems to be the earliest we’ve seen it happen in recent memory. For anyone who drives, or walks by, it’s a grim sign of climate change for New Mexico.
Data from the EPA shows the snowpack that feeds the Rio Grande has been steadily dropping since the 1950s... " - KOB Ch.4
Democrats and the media are way too enthusiastic about the possibility that the Epstein files will have some important negative effect on Trump's popularity with the bulk of his MAGA followers.
What is being overlooked is the 2016 video resulting from the Access Hollywood interview in which Trump candidly revealed the depth of his depravity.
Recall that what followed the publishing of that interview was the election of Trump to the Presidency.
People like Bondi, Patel and Vance will be momentarily embarrassed by their previous advocacy for release of the Epstein grand jury hearing details, but Trump's teflon coating will remain intact.
When we went to watch the flamenco performance on Saturday in Old Town I felt compelled to stop momentarily to photograph this Chevrolet. Several other people stopped to admire the car also, impressed by the faultless restoration.
I thought my little Canon digital nicely captured the character of the car. The camera is not as compact as my Panasonic Lumix, but it has the virtue of an eye-level viewfinder which makes sunny day photos feasible.
The street past our house is being repaved. The work starts at 6AM.
The early start to the workday is understandable with temperatures reaching 100 degrees.
The work is half done at three weeks.
I posted on my photography blog about Albuquerque's Flamenco tradition. Later that same day I got an email announcing a performance the following day in the Old Town gazebo by the Spanish Broom group. So, that set the agenda for Saturday. We started the evening with a fine Mexican dinner at the Church Street Cafe. There were some dark clouds over the city when we walked to the Plaza, but then the setting sun peeked under them to light up the dancers.
The dancers, the guitarist, the tabla player and the cantaoras were all excellent.
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| flamenco futures |
Little seems to get said in the press about the ongoing attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank; they are smaller in scale than the devastating bombardments to the south in Gaza, but even more vicious in some ways. A good source of reporting on events is David Schulman who periodically writes in The New York Review of Books. His latest brief report, "Netanyahu's War", looks at the courageous efforts of Israeli human rights activists to ameliorate the unrelenting attacks on Palestinian families by the invading Israeli settlers with the aid of soldiers and police. Schulman also succinctly profiles the perpetrators:
UPDATE
Featured on the evening news was ICEBLOCK, an Iphone app which records and reports sightings of ICE agents within a 5-mile radius. (I don't have an Iphone. I would be interested in assessments of the app in the Albuquerque area.)
I like my little Lumix digital camera. Its 10 megapixels is fine for online photo sharing, and at just 7/8 inch thick it slips easily into a pocket. The lack of an eye-level finder limits its sunny day usefulness, but I've posted a lot of pictures from it.
Recently, a couple spots started showing up in the images from the camera and I was pretty sure it was some dust on the sensor. I decided to try cleaning the sensor following the instructions provided in this Graham Houghton YouTube video.
The camera in the video was not exactly the same model as mine, but it was close enough so I encountered little difficulty in following the instructions. It would have been helpful to have some magnifying glasses to see the small parts in tight spaces.
As the video warned, the little IR filter was stuck to the inside back of case when I opened it. What I was not prepared for was that the tiny piece of plastic filter material and the small rubber frame would flutter separately down to the desktop. I had to guess the proper orientation of the component on reassembly, but it seems to be ok.
Other than the issue with the filter, there was little difficulty in the process, and just brushing off the filter and the sensor has resulted in dust-free images from the camera.
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| Margaret at Level 5 at the Chaco Hotel |
I've read two books recently on the subject of music, but I still don't have any sense of rhythm. I can't say I''m surprised at that outcome. However, there are dimensions to music beyond the tap - tap - tap. I feel I have at least made some gains in historical perspective about blues and jazz traditions thanks to Blues Legacies and Black Feminism by Angela Y. Davis.
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| "Ma" Rainey |
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| Billie Holiday - Wikipedia |
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| wikipedia |
A picture of ex-congressman Robert Menendez about to begin his eleven-year imprisonment got me thinking again about the desired and actual value of incarceration. I'm sure such penalties do make politicians more careful in how they subvert the law, but it seems pretty clear the threat is not really effective as a deterrent.
Our local DA has been harping lately on the need for accountability to discourage criminal activity, including gun violence committed by teenagers. I would suggest that locking up children is of no use whatsoever. The issue with teenagers and a lot of immature adults is largely one of impulse control. That kind of personality deficit is immune to anything short of immediate consequences. Publicizing the idea that violent acts might result in getting caught and suffering legal retribution has all the deterrent impact of a mosquito bite.
Meanwhile, the eleven-year sentence handed down to Menendez is going the have the primary result of costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands. It seems to me that a more effective strategy would be to put the congressman to work doing useful tasks in the community like street cleaning, perhaps in a striped uniform. (And, just a year or two of that might suffice.) Of course, there would still be a cost in regard to compliance and security, but at least taxpayers would be getting something tangible for their money.
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Ex-Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner given house arrest (Aljazera)
Prison abolition movement in the United States (wikipedia)
A very good analysis of the extent and significance of the No Kings protests is at Jacobin.
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| Getty Images |
I think that one thing the demonstrations point to is that, in a country where a rather small percentage of the eligible voters bother to cast a ballot, the winner will be the candidate that turns out the most voters, regardless of majority sentiments.
Trump is certainly providing a lot of motivation. We'll see if that motivation is maintained among the democracy defenders. The mid-terms will be a good test in terms of both the voter turnout, as well as the extent to which members of Congress are paying attention.
I found this little Praying Mantis on my desk this evening.
I thought at first that it had a bit of lint caught on its tail. On looking at a closer shot it seemed he had just crawled out of his skin as he grew too big for it.
I found a youtube video of a fellow demonstrating how to ride. I saw that he had a very upright posture and he was steering with just two fingers. That encouraged me to try again following his example. I also found that pushing the handlebar on the side opposite the desired turn direction was a better technique. Once I was able to get myself up and down the street, the process began to seem more natural and intuitive.
The Old Trike
I played around with 3D drawing programs about twenty years ago and one of my first efforts was to reconstruct my memory of my first trike in the mid-1940s. I don't recall any difficulty in learning to ride this one. Kids seem to take to the task with no problem.
Happy trails!
In rhe 1930s in Germany immigrants from eastern Europe, mostly Jews, were seen as economic and criminal threats. They were rounded up and confined to detention camps. Some brave souls sheltered and hid a few, but in the end millions were murdered.
It surprises me that so many people seem to fail to see the parallel.
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We took the dog for a walk at the river this morning. The riverside forest is bursting with growth, due in part to some unusually heavy rains for this time of year.
There are mulberries ready to eat, I'm sure I'll find plenty of blooming yerba mansa, and maybe some wolfberries, next time I walk further south along the river.
It seems that a similar pattern of storms have appeared all across the country. We have experienced only brief and localized flooding, along with one death in a flood control arroyo.
I don't think the current weather pattern indicates any respite from climate change. It seems more likely that we are just seeing examples of increasing frequency of weather extremes.
Trump is methodically dismantling any efforts to control the production of greenhouse gases and even destroying the key resources for monitoring weather and climate. There is some pushback even among Republicans to defunding sustainable energy projects, but it seems quite possible that adverse climate change could be irreversible by the time we have put Trump behind us.
During my first two years at the University of Washington Dwight Eisenhower was still President. He had led the defeat of Fascism in Europe, presided over a booming post-war economy during his two terms, and fired MacArthur before the General could drop an A-bomb on North Korea. My stepfather, who had served in the Pacific, supported Eisenhower's candidacy, as did my mother, whose first husband had perished in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. I recall wearing an "I Like Ike" button, but I really only had a sketchy view of the issues then.
Being a Land Grant College, the UW was required to offer mandatory R.O.T.C. (Reserve Officer Training Corps) courses which were mandatory for the first two years in school for every male student. We learned some elementary military procedures including map reading, and we marched in a gym building once weekly wearing WWII-era uniforms and shouldering M1 rifles. I was conflicted about the experience. The uniform was the same my father had worn and I respected his sacrifice. At the same time I disliked having to walk around the campus wearing the uniform and I resented the requirement to submit to the authority of the military drill instructors.
The end of the school year was marked by a brief R.O.T.C. parade and an assembly of the uniformed students in the Quad. As we lined up in for the final speeches, a loudspeaker smuggled into the top floor of one of the nearby buildings began blaring out the lyrics of the Mickey Mouse theme song: M-I-C-K-E-Y... It was only mildly humiliating as I was faceless in the uniformed crowd. I vaguely understood and appreciated the anti-authoritarian message. I remember thinking that the protestors had shown some courage in challenging the event. I don't recall hearing anything about penalties being exacted against them.
In spite of some innate skepticism about the wielding of political and military power, I bought into much of the country's foreign policies over the next five years. That loyalty eroded as the war effort started by Eisenhower and intensified by Kennedy against the Vietnamese people heated up. In the end, I joined the marches against the war and I cheered when Lyndon Johnson resigned as the country became ungovernable.
It seemed for a time under Kennedy, and more so under Obama, that there was reason for some optimism that the country was outgrowing racism, misogyny and xenophobia. That was clearly delusional, so it seems now that we really need MICKEY again. *
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* Jacinda Ardern might do.
There is a great series running on PBS right now, Bugs That Rule the World. The first episode I watched featured dragonflies and the Preying Mantis, a species I've always enjoyed meeting up with. I haven't seen any for a while now, and I think I may know why.
A fellow knocked on my door recently to propose exterminating troublesome insects. He offered to kill all the ants and spiders inside and outside my house, and pointed up the street indicating other customers in the neighborhood.
This morning we visited a very fine exhibit at the Albuquerque Museum about the history of the Albuquerque Special Collections Library, Open to All: A Century of Access at the Special Collections Library.
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| Photo courtesy of the Albuquerque Museum |
There is also a Youtube documentary (which includes an interview of Joe Van Cleave!)
The Spanish/Pueblo Revival style building was originally the main and only library in town for many years. It now houses a non-circulating collection of books and artifacts including a collection of antique printing machinery.
The exhibit got me to thinking about how central to my life libraries have been everywhere I have lived. My first library experience was visits by the local branch librarian to my West Seattle elementary school. She made presentations about the latest additions to the collection of children's books which always seemed very exciting to me. I was always motivated to go immediately to the library to read the reviewed books.
Mr. Popper's Penguins was one of the books I recall first hearing about from the visiting librarian. It seemed a great adventure story about charming animals at the time. Looking back on it now, I am appalled by the idea of taking wild animals out of their natural environment to be household pets or circus performers.
Another book from those early days was the fictional tale of several children who escape the Japanese invasion of their island home using a sailboat. The idea that children close to my age could play a heroic role in the recently concluded war was very captivating. I have tried several times to find that book over the years, but can't recall the book title and have been unable to track it down with search descriptions.
My elementary school had its own library as well, and from it I was able to read about Roy Chapman Andrews' life as an explorer in Mongolia. That book proved very influential in my life, motivating me to seek adventure in exotic locations.
These days, my library visits are most often to the Los Griegos branch of the Albuquerque Public Library. There is a good collection of books there and a welcoming atmosphere. A few years ago the branch manager, Nicholas Newlin, was very helpful to our New Mexico Film Photographers group in organizing a photo exhibit at the library.
While I enjoy the opportunity to browse the book shelves at Los Griegos or the other branch libraries in town, I more often borrow Kindle books online through the library website. That is an especially nice option for me as much of my reading is of Spanish language novels. Since Spanish is my second language I often want to look up the meaning of unfamiliar words, and that just requires a single click on the word when I am reading with Kindle.
So the way I interact with libraries has undergone some changes over the years, but it is no less important to me now than it was when I was first hearing about new books to read from that Seattle librarian.
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* See also on PBS/Independent Lens
Free For ALL: The Public Library
How public libraries shaped a nation and remain a beloved sanctuary for Americans today.
So Trump has put on another of his White House dog and pony shows in an attempt to humiliate another leader of an allied country with transparent lies. Cyril Ramaphosa, the President of South Africa, responded with facts and unflappable dignity, making Trump look the fool.
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| Cyril Ramaphosa (Wikipedia) |
There may be a job more stressful than that of air traffic controllers, but it is hard to imagine what that might be. How are people motivated to take on such work in places like Newark or Washington D.C.?
Those are questions currently on the desk of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. He has proposed a massive reconstruction and modernization of the air traffic control system. That is a process that will take at least four years, provided that the necessary billions are made available.
Trump, of course, places the blame for the currently disastrous state of the system on the Biden administration. Unmentioned is that fact that the proposal of Biden's transport secretary, Buttigieg, to massively invest in rebuilding the system was torpedoed by congressional Republicans.
It is also worthwhile to look back to the opportunity that was lost in 1981 when Ronald Reagan fired all the air traffic controllers who had struck for better working conditions. Reagan brought in active military controllers as strike breakers, and did an expert PR job of manipulating media accounts to minimize concerns then about controller job stress. That effectively set the pattern for the subsequent twenty-year development of failed policy and performance.
Duffy, to his credit, cut short the DOGE initiative to include controllers in their firing spree, but the subsequent loss of FAA analysts and support staff cannot be without consequences. That shortsightedness seems due in part to overwhelming emphasis on equipment upgrades while continuing to minimize the centrality of human preparedness and performance.
* A Newark air traffic controller on how it felt when systems went dark (NPR)
A lot of media attention was given to the Signalgate incident where it was revealed that top Administration officials were using an unofficial and possibly insecure chat service to discuss ongoing operations. So far, the only casualty has been the meeting organizer, Mike Waltz, and he has only been shuffled off to the walking wounded job of UN ambassador.
Larger issues of national security vulnerability have gone under the radar. A recent nytimes article gives some hints at what might be usefully considered:
"... The C.I.A. plans to cut more than 1,000 staff positions through attrition over the next few years as the Trump administration shrinks the federal government..."
"... A spokeswoman for the agency did not directly confirm the plan to reduce its size but said in a statement that John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, was 'moving swiftly; to ensure that its work force was responsive to the administration’s national security priorities.'..."
Perhaps we should be reassured that the administration has taken time to set some priorities, though the possibility that those priorities might actually pertain to security seems a little remote.
Cutting a thousand jobs from something as complicated as the intelligence establishment presents some obvious threats to performance and efficiency. However, of even more concern is the immediate outcome of the staff cuts, which is that there will be a multitude of former analysts and operatives out looking for jobs.
It is a good bet that those job-hunters' resumes - complete with pictures - are even now flooding the internet and sparking the interest of corporate recruiters. You can also be sure that those hungry, often disgruntled former agency staffers will come under scrutiny by the foreign intelligence agencies of Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. All of whom, of course, have massive capabilities for online surveillance, and plenty of expertise in the cultivation of double agents.
As irritated as those job hunters might be at the course of events, the vast majority are patriots, and have no doubt received special training to alert them to possible threats. Still, it is not inconceivable that one out of that thousand might be tempted by an opportunity for retribution and enrichment. And, after all, that has happened before.
It might be argued that the people let go have been severed from ongoing operations, but of course they took a lot of knowledge with them, and many friendships will continue with active agency staff.
So, recognizing the potential for damage, what might be done? Having dealt itself a crippling blow, the agencies are ill prepared to keep an eye on where all the discards go. Probably the most effective and economical strategy would be just to hire them all back.
The best dissection of Big Pharma I have come across is the recent article by David Armstrong at ProPublica,
In The Price of Remission Armstrong uses his own experience with cancer treatment as a starting point for explaining the complexities of drug development and the exploitation of human misery to make stratospheric profits.
The implications of how RFK Jr. and the DOGE team will make things even worse are not directly dealt with in the article, but they are easily deduced.
It is also worth noting that Big Pharma contributions to politicians are nearly equally divided between the two major parties, with the Republicans having only a slight edge.
Two big exhibits at either end of the Albuquerque Museum.
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| Trevor Martinez, Guitar Highlights, Sandia High School, Grade 12 |
An early futurist take on the development of artificial intelligence was that it would replace the need for human labor and usher in an age of leisure for everyone. At this point the effects on job availability are uncertain, but the rosy glow of the early predictions is fading fast.
For a more realistic view it is worth looking at how things have developed in the social media industry. In that trillion-dollar undertaking the tangible benefits have gone overwhelmingly to the billionaire class. Useful, objective news has been subverted by an avalanche of lies and conspiracy theories. The early promise of the internet to empower ordinary people has been undermined by kowtowing to authoritarianism.
Resistance is still possible. There is still access available to independent initiatives, online and offline. The time to speak up and to act is now.
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Tyrants like Trump always fall – and we can already predict how he will be dethroned
Simon Tisdall in The Guardian
What happened when Representative Melanie Stansbury visited the Albuquerque Social Security Office to see how staff and budget cuts were affecting her constituents.
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It seemed like the Viet Nam war would never end. When it finally did I could hardly believe it.
How Photography From the Vietnam War Changed America (New York Times)
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| Kyoichi Sawada/Bettmann/Corbis, via Getty Images |
As Trump's devastation of the economy progresses it is worthwhile considering what a thoughtful use of tariffs might look like. Zyphyr Teachout's latest column in The Nation explores that idea, with dissections of both the MAGA and the neoliberal Democrat strategies.
"Trump’s chaotic, personalized trade agenda is certainly extreme. But so is the opposite vision: tariff abolition, with no guardrails, no democratic planning, and no strategy. Real industrial policy—the kind that builds capacity, disperses power, and supports workers—lives between those extremes. That’s the tradition we should be reclaiming."
Read:
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It seems every generation of Americans have to relearn the lessons of the past about the irrational fear of the other.
The task is always made more difficult by systematic efforts to obscure and rewrite well documented accounts of previous intolerance such as we see now being conducted by the Trump administration.
Fortunately, there are still many easily accessed resources for learning and teaching about irrational and destructive prejudice. One very good one is the non-profit densho.org which got its start twenty-five years ago in Bellevue, Washington. The area's Japanese-American community drew on its own experience with WWII internment as inspiration to put together a thorough multi-media effort to create a fact-based tool-set for combating intolerance.
While the primary focus of Densho is based on the personal history accounts of the Japanese-American community, the website also provides a good overview of the many versions of intolerance which have plagued the country. The highlights of the story are told very nicely in the short film, "Other": A brief history of American xenophobia.
The rise of end times fascism
Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor
The two authors have gone to the trouble of delineating the unifying philosophy of the far right elite. It's fundamental properties are a fear of regulation that puts limits on massive wealth acquisition, and the construction of refuges from the apocalyptic future which they are responsible for facilitating.
From the way that the tariffs were rolled out it is clear that Trump really has no clue about the economic effects of his actions or how to manage the process. However, that is not a barrier to the objectives of the 2025 Project. The chaos created by Trump's flailing executive orders creates a climate which facilitates the destruction of the institutions of government as specified in the Heritage Foundation publications which lay out the Project 2025 agenda.
A good example of how the 2025 authors are now manipulating the process is the recent modification of the tariffs to exempt smart phones and computers from the tariffs. That is likely to be enough to quell the alarm among the Trump base that depends on social media for its news. Trump clearly lacks the analytic capacity to make that kind of course adjustment, but he is the perfect conduit for those close to him who pull his strings.
